Chapter 14
The elder Tobias, at the hour of his death, called to him his son Tobias and his seven grandsons, and said to them that the destruction of Nineveh was near and the restoration of Israel. And then in Judea, faithful and just teachers seeing this, when they are about to leave the world, admonish their relatives that the world is now approaching its end and the goods of the future life are soon to come. They especially admonish those whom they see reborn through the grace of the Lord and filled with the gift of the sevenfold Spirit; this is to be the sons of the younger Tobias in the number of seven, and these young men, that is, strong in faith and overcoming the evil one.
"Direct your steps, so that you may leave Nineveh. For I see that its iniquity will bring about its end." And this is to say to the faithful to their hearers: "Direct the intention of your heart, so that you may leave behind the desires of this world and earthly life, and seek heavenly things with your whole mind. For it is evident that the multitude of the wicked and the transgression of God's commandments throughout the world are such that they can only be ended by the destruction of the world itself, just as it was once terminated in the flood and the abolition of the entire human race."
So Tobias left Nineveh with his wife, sons, and grandsons, and returned to his in-laws, finding them in good old age. This is what the Lord does daily, and will do until the end of the world: He turns away from those whom He recognizes are not His own, to visit and enlighten the hearts of those whom He has predestined to eternal life. He finds these in good old age, rejoicing that they have long been devoted to good works by His grace. Otherwise, He sees them in bad old age and passes them by, as those who, living far from the divine, are not mature in counsel, not venerable with the whiteness of good action like gray hair, but are bent under the burden of vices. Of such, Isaiah says: "The child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed" (Isa. LXV). Rightly, they will be subject to a curse for their sins, who, although living many years, never cared to abandon the levity of a childish mind.
He finds them in good old age and unharmed, etc. And our Lord and Savior takes care of those whom He knows to persevere in the safety of good works. He Himself, closing their heart’s gaze to the delight of this present life, lifts them to the contemplation of eternal light. He Himself leads them to heavenly places after the end of this life. His is the inheritance, of which the prophet sings to Him: "Arise, O God, judge the earth, for you shall inherit all nations" (Psalm LXXXII).
And having completed many years in the fear of the Lord with joy, all his relatives buried him. The burial of Tobias signifies the faith of the whole world when our Lord, with His whole body, which is the Church that He has redeemed, enters into eternal rest, with angels rejoicing in the fellowship of redeemed men and placing each member of their Creator in various mansions of the heavenly homeland according to the diversity of merits.
And all his generation remained in good life and holy conversation. This is one generation throughout the whole world and throughout the whole time of the world, seeking the Lord, seeking the face of the God of Jacob (Psalm XXIII). Of which it also says: "The generation of the upright will be blessed" (Psalm CXII). What better life, what holier conversation is there than to remain forever in the glory of their Creator?
So that they were accepted by both God and all the inhabitants of the earth. Men brought to the heavenly homeland will be accepted by God, by whose grace they have been redeemed; they will also be accepted by the angels, whose number they will complete, to whom they will be joined in perpetual fraternal society. These are indeed the inhabitants of that earth, of which the Lord says: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" (Matt. V); which the Psalmist, desiring to see, said: "I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living" (Psalm XXVI).